At my centre we have a child that loves to perform. This child loves to build stages and seats out of blocks and use different objects as instruments and microphones and use these to perform for the teachers and her friends. One day she was sitting at the drawing table drawing on a lot of different pieces of paper, when asked what she was doing, she replied saying she was making flyers for her concert. When she finished making her flyers she continued to stick them around the outdoor setting before standing on her homemade stage and began singing and dancing for the teachers and children that wanted to watch. The next week L asked me if she could sing me a song, I replied “sure I would love to hear your song L”. L began singing and dancing the song for me. Once she finished I asked her if she would like me to record her song and dance for her. L replied “what is record?” I explained to L that record is like taking a picture but it takes a picture of her singing and dancing so that we can watch again afterwards. L had a very puzzled but excited look on her face and I asked her if she would like to try it. L got ready and began singing and dancing her song again as I recorded it on my camera. When she finished she asked if she could have a look. As I showed L the recording of her singing and dancing, the smile on her face was priceless. She began asking the other teachers and her friends to come and have a look, and as I showed her friends and the teachers L could not stop smiling and was telling everyone I recorded her. I asked L if she would like me to put it on a DVD so that she could take it home to show her parents and grandparents, L excitedly replied with a big yes.
Through this experience L is able to use technology as a new and different way to express herself (Plowman, 2006). Smorti (1999) talks about technology being a “creative and purposeful activity to meet needs and opportunities”; in this case the camera was used to record L as a creative and purposeful activity that was meaningful to the child. I recognised the interest L has in performing for others and extended her interests and knowledge by giving her the opportunity to record herself not only for herself to see but for her friends, teachers and family to see as well. Through this experience it promotes and develops L’s confidence and self-esteem as she is able to perform with confidence and able to look back on her performance and feel a sense of accomplishment. This experience opens up other possibilities to L, it provides her with different ways she can express herself and ways she can look back on what she has done or in this case what she has performed. Ministry of Education (1996) states that “children need to develop confidence in themselves and be able to ‘continue to acquiring new knowledge and skills’”
Through this experience it proves that children are not aware of some technology unless we as teachers make these opportunities and experiences available to them. With the world now becoming so technical and so much technology becoming part of our everyday world, our children have the right to be given the opportunity to be exposed to these technologies. This experience where L was able to record herself performing, this gave her so much pleasure to be able to see herself performing, where previously she had never had the opportunity to see herself perform as she has always been the one performing. This experience gave her a different lens to look through, instead of seeing things from a performer’s point of view she was able to change the lens she looked through, going from the performer to being an observer, watching herself perform. This would never have been possible for her without the technology to record her. From this experience I believe that technology is a useful tool to help children develop their confidence and it links the centre and home life as in this situation L was able to take her performance home on a DVD to share with her family. From this situation I plan on making this an ongoing experience for all children so that they too can have the opportunity to be recorded not just doing a performance but whether they are playing or constructing master pieces, and give the children to opportunity to take it home and share it with their families.
References
Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He whāriki mātauranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa .Wellington: Learning Media.
Plowman, L. & Stephen, C (2006). Supporting learning with ICT in pre-school settings. Research Briefing for the ESRC Teaching and Learning Research Programme.
Smorti, S. (1999) Technology in Early Childhood. Early Education, No.19 Autumn 1999
Images from Google Images
This was a great learning experience to be involved in as you gave L the opportunity to express and see herself in a different light as she revisited her performance by watching the video afterwards. I agree that children are only exposed to technology when teachers introduce it to them and "it is the teacher’s knowledge and skills about how to use the technology that makes the difference, not the technology itself’ (Tsantis, Bewick & Thouvenelle, 2003, p. 4). In this case you wonderfully extended upon L's interest in singing and dancing by recording her performance on your camera and then on a dvd for her to take home for her family to watch as well. Another way for you to extend children's learning is scaffold them to do the recording of their play and learning experiences or of others if and when possible. When the children are engaged in this type of activity, “it is the ‘doing’ that is important, rather than the ‘product’” in the “process approach to technology” which will make it even more meaningful to them (Smorti, 1999, p. 6). This also enables you and the other teachers to remain available to help support the children's “construction of knowledge” as they devise new ways of engaging with the technological resources available (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997 cited in Mindes, 2006, p. 111).
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ReplyDeleteHey Tamelia I think this was a great opportunity for this little girl to express her interest and have the opportunity to express herself in this performance. I believe by letting the children have the chance to sing and dance and perform and recording her so she is able to see and hear herself is a great way to let her feel she is recognised and that her individual interest is noticed and is extended on this gives children a chance to build confidence in themselves and gives them a feeling of belonging in the centre.I think how you gave this little girl the opportunity to take her performance home on tape is a wonderful idea and this also shows the family you take their children's learning and interests further. It's a great idea awesome Tamelia!
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ReplyDeleteRecording L's performance of her is a wonderful learning experience not only did L learn about what recording is, it captured her creativity as a performer of song and dance. " familiarity with the properties and character of the materials and technology used in the creative and expressive arts;" (Ministry of Education 1996 p.80). I really liked how you ask L if she would like a copy of the recording to share with her whanau making connections from centre to home.
I do agree with you that children should be exposed to new technology with the support and facilitation of teachers in the early childhood environment as it is changing all the time. "Te Whariki states, that in order to participate in this world, our children will need the confidence to develop their own perspectives as well as their capacity to continue acquiring new knowledge and skills" (Smorti, S., 1999, p. 5).
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ReplyDeleteWow! How interesting! This little girl is very creative! So good to read about how she loves to build stages and performs to her teachers and friends, she has definitely shown great self- confidence and talent! It is wonderful experience for the children!
ReplyDeleteThe way you introduced to her about recording is brilliant, you explained the process of recording by comparing it to taking pictures which she must have been familiar with and extend on her learning by helping her understand that she will be able to watch herself dancing and singing afterwards after the recording. That is awesome because often we adults try to explain things to children, we often find it difficult to explain it in a more simpler term for children to understand fully our explanations or examples. Child’s L excitement that day has certainly enhances her self-confidence and I believe she will never forget how you have maintained and encouraged her interest to her new discovery of video technology and that is exceptional! Awesome Tamelia!